Yesterday, we looked back on Douglas Keane, Melissa Perello and the rest of the Class of 2002. Today, we go back a bit further.

Pound for pound, the Class of 1994 Rising Star Chefs might be one of the best (though it appears the photo theme was “ladder”). Every one of the six chefs are still prominent in the Bay Area — and four of them are still at the same restaurants where they made their name (five if you count Michael Mina/Aqua). That’s no small feat after 18 years.

Michael Mina
Quote: “I’d like to open a restaurant on the waterfront in Seattle.”
Then: 25-year-old chef de cuisine at Aqua.
Now: Chef-owner of 19 restaurants across the country, including San Francisco restaurants Michael Mina (in the old Aqua space), RN74 and Bourbon Steak. Perhaps fulfilling that original dream above, he opened RN74 in Seattle last year.

Margie Conard and Dana Tommasino
Quote: “Much of the charm of the place is its size, the intimacy … To expand, or move, might mean losing that.”
Then: Co-chefs and owners of Woodward’s Garden.
Now: Co-chefs and owners of Woodward’s Garden.

Loretta Keller
Quote: “I want the food to feel like it really has a lot of tradition behind it, that it comes from people who’ve been doing it for a long time, mainly for reasons of necessity.”
Then: Chef-owner of Bizou
Now: Chef-owner of Coco500 (a.k.a. the revamped Bizou).

Wendy Brucker
Quote from original story: “I’ll never write a cookbook; we don’t use recipes, we just do it.”
Then: Chef-owner of Rivoli.
Now: Chef-owner of Rivoli — and nearby Corso.

Traci Des Jardins
Quote: “Having to think too much about what you are eating is tedious. I now want food that’s accessible.”
Then: 28-year-old chef at newly opened Rubicon.
Now: Chef-owner of Jardiniere, Public House, Mijita and Manzanita (Lake Tahoe).